Boundaries
by Takada Saiko
Summary: Natasha appears on Auggie's doorstep late one night, begging for his help once more. Canada had not solved her trouble, but heightened them. And what does Ben Mercer have to do with all of this? ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Boundaries

Author: Takada Saiko

A/N: This is one of those fics I'm starting and thinking 'I'm going to regret this because I really don't have the time, but am going to write it anyway.' Oi. A warning, if you read 'Hindsight is 20-20' just know that I will not be updating as regularly as that one… I have classes now and that takes up a good chunk of the day. It's just… after ep 1x07 the other day, Tash has been buzzing around my head. It's a good chance that it's going to be AU to an extent, just because I get the feeling that next week Annie may find out that Arthur has been searching for Ben, just from the previews. Also, there's a quick oneshot amongst the 'Dream Sequence' shots that I was working through for some of this story.

Timeline: Follows Communication Breakdown

* * *

_"falling out of love can breach your world_

_and the boundaries of your friend's worlds"_

_Tokyo Moon by Windmill_

* * *

**Boundaries**

Chapter one.

Auggie Anderson was a creature of habit. Not by nature, though, but by necessity. That's one thing that he hated most about the Liza Hearn op that he ran. She invaded his habits. She came and went nearly as she pleased, and he had to pretend to be thrilled by it.

This week he knew for sure that she was on assignment elsewhere. She would not be invading him, hoping for a quick romp before or after work, and he would not have to come up with yet a more clever way than last to get around her questions and try to out her sources. He really was liking this less and less with each passing day.

The disgust in Annie's voice when she'd found out hadn't helped any either.

That was another problem entirely. Auggie sighed to himself as he stretched out on his couch and groped on the table for the remote that controlled his stereo system. Mingus met his ears and he almost groaned as he turned to burry his face in the decorative pillow. Why, after so many years of enjoying the jazz artist, did his music now remind him of a certain blonde operative?

He allowed his mind to wander to her as his fingers danced across the buttons, looking for music that might suite his dampened mood better. His emotions had been run through lately and he was nearly at his wit's end. Closure with Tash was not what he'd expected it to be and there was a sense of unfinished conversation hanging between he and Annie that loomed with such a ferocity that the easy talk that they usually fell into had fallen by the wayside for the past week since the initial declaration of trust after the wrap up of Tash's case. There had been no casual drinks at Allen's Tavern, no chatter at work, and even their usual banter seemed forced and uneasy. Auggie hated it. It left him feeling cold and hollow in a time that he could have really used Annie's bubbling personality and the pep talks that she'd become amazingly good at in the recent times.

A knock at his front door shook him out of his thoughts and he rolled off the couch and moved towards the door, asking who was there once he laid hands on the large, sliding door.

"It's Annie," the familiar voice called and Auggie felt something in his chest grip.

He unlocked and slid his door open. The smell of Jo Malone Grapefruit hit him as if he hadn't caught the scent in ages. He breathed it in and felt a small smile tip the edges of his lips upward. "Annie. What a surprise." He moved so she could come in.

Her steps were hesitant, as if she weren't sure how to read his expression and words. When he'd slid the door back into place he heard her give a half sigh-half snort of frustration. "This has to end."

Auggie stood silent. That could go so many ways. "You're… going to have to be more specific on what 'this' is," he managed when he felt he could speak without sounding like a small child waiting for the verdict from an angry father over some wrongdoing.

"_This_, Auggie!" She may have given a wide sweeping motion, but Auggie couldn't be sure. When he didn't respond she moved closer to where he stood, but never touched him. "You're my best friend and we haven't even…" Her voice trailed off and hitched.

When Auggie was certain that she didn't mean she was ending any sort of association with him – the worst possible scenario that had crossed his mind upon her words – he reached out and finally found her hand. When he pulled her closer he could smell the alcohol on her breath. It was not overbearing, but apparently she'd been shifting through some of the same thoughts that he had that night. "Annie," he whispered, feeling as if anything louder might shatter something in them both. "We should talk."

She nodded and he could almost feel her eyes tracing every line of his face. After a long moment they moved to the couch that Auggie had previously occupied and he clicked the music back to Mingus and quieted it.

Annie laughed quietly at the choice and smiled. "Auggie, you really are my best friend… I guess my only friend outside of my family nowdays."

"What, you and Jai aren't buddy-buddy anymore?" Auggie asked before he could help himself. He was pretty sure that with as much as Annie loathed Liza, he felt that way or more towards Jai for possibly the same reasons.

"I'm still pissed at him for not trusting you with the Natasha hack incident," she answered honestly. Silence fell between them for a moment before she sighed. "Auggie, things have been different."

"Things usually are different when people find out things about each other that they never would have guessed," Auggie answered quietly.

"But I really do trust you. I don't want to be angry at you."

"Then don't be."

"It's not that easy." Annie took his hands at this and he could feel her breath hot on his face. She was leaning so close that he could almost taste her. "It's not…"

"Then talk to me, Annie," Auggie growled, frustration bubbling. "That's been the problem. You've never had an issue throwing any and every problem my way, but what's the hold up when it has to do with me?"

"I don't want to lose you!"

"You won't!" Auggie hadn't meant to yell back. He could feel her muscles tense and she let go of his hands to wipe at tears that were building in her eyes. He sighed, feeling like a real jerk. "Annie, I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"No it's not." He reached a tentative hand towards her face. When he found it he cupped her cheek and leaned in so their foreheads rested against each other's. "I've been an ass."

"Yeah," she laughed through her tears.

"Forgive me?"

She didn't answer him at first, but also didn't move away. The silence started to make Auggie feel uneasy again. He'd been a jerk, he'd admitted it, and things would go back to normal, right? Annie wasn't the type to hold grudges, at least not against him. He was about to open his mouth to speak up when she leaned forward and her lips pressed against his. It was quick and sweet, leaving him wanting more when she pulled away.

But she did pull away and Auggie imagined her face bright red as she spoke. "I'm sorry, Auggie," she managed, stuttering through the sentence. "I've been drinking some tonight, and Danielle and I were talking a little about it and I knew I couldn't just call and… And now I'm rambling. I'm sorry."

A smile spread across his face and before he knew it they were kissing again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her into his lap. It was sudden and he knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that these were all the emotions raging from their somewhat tiff that had stretched on for the past week involving Liza Hearn, his impromptu trip to Canada with Tash, and everything in between, but that didn't really matter as soon as Annie's lips touched his.

A knock came at the front door and Annie pulled back suddenly. "Ignore it," Auggie murmured as he reached for her again, but the knock came louder, more frantic.

"Auggie?" a familiar, Russian accented voice called from the hallway. "It's Natasha. Please let in!"

"What's Tash doing back here?" Annie asked, her voice not quite accusing as she crawled off of Auggie.

The tech op frowned slightly as he sat up and stood from the couch. "I have no idea."

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A/N: So, there's the first chapter. Remember, reviews feed my addiction, cookies feed the plot bunnies. =D


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I know this is short, but I need to go doing some homework before crashing out for the night. Thank you all for the reviews and cookies and hugs! They're always so very much appreciated!

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Chapter Two.

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Natasha strode into the loft apartment with no more invitation than an open door, speaking rapidly until she noticed Annie perched on her former lover's couch. She blinked, staring at the blonde with wide eyes. "The seeing eye dog," she murmured.

"Her name is Annie, Tash, and did you say you were followed?"

Annie stood without instruction and made her way to the window. As casually as she could she glanced out it and was met by a decently busy street below for a Thursday night, but no stand-still, suspicious looking vehicles that looked like they might be watching a certain Russian hacker's movements. "Looks clear."

"Well I wouldn't lead them here," Tash growled out, sounding somewhat indignant.

Auggie sighed, feeling the tension building in the room. He reached out and finally caught a hold of Natasha's arm. "Annie's just doing her job," he assured her and he felt her relax slightly in his hold. "Now what's going on?"

Tash sighed and moved to take a seat on the couch, followed by Auggie and Annie taking seats as well. She glanced between them for a moment before speaking. "When I got up to Canada, I was supposed to be safe. If the CIA has my hack, the FBI should leave me alone. As should the mob."

"Not necessarily on the second," Annie muttered from her place, curling her long legs up under her. "I mean, it's not like they've ever been known for their forgiving nature."

The hacker frowned in a way that said she'd been avoiding that idea. "But I don't have the hack. What good am I?"

"It could be a number of things," Auggie said as he leaned forward, placing his face in his hands tiredly. His fingers pressed inward on the bridge of his nose as if it might relieve all the pressure suddenly building there. "They could think you still have it – we obviously didn't broadcast the transaction – or they could think you're working for us now."

"I would never work for the American government," Tash bit out. "Or _any_ government."

"I know that, you know that, but they may not. My boss should have known you wouldn't be bought, but she wanted to offer anyway. Many people are under the impression that people have a price, but you just have to find it."

"They keep switching the people that are after me, but one face has come up over and over again, all the way down the East Coast," Natasha offered the bit of information as she dug into her bag. Her fingers latched around her small laptop and pulled it out. Annie stared as her fingers flew across the keys, filling in more passwords than she would have ever thought to have put on a computer. "This is him."

Annie leaned closer as the picture scrolled across the screen and she felt her heart stop. If she had had any affects left over from her drinking earlier it was gone in an instant and all color drained from her face.

"Put it on a jump drive and I'll take it into work tomorrow," Auggie offered. "If I can get my boss to clear it, I'll run it through the databases and come up with something… being that I can't see it anyway."

"You don't have to," Annie managed from her place, her voice sounding small and unsteady even to her own ears. "I know who he is."

"Care to share?" Auggie asked with an encouraging smile in her direction.

"It doesn't make any sense though…. Natasha, are you sure? The guy in that picture… He's a teacher. I know him." She paused, turning to face Auggie who was looked confused. "You remember that guy I told you about?"

"_The_ guy?"

"Yeah. It's him. It's Ben."

Auggie shifted uncomfortably, wanting nothing more than to see that picture at that very moment. Pieces of information seemed to crash together in his mind and he thought to clips of conversations that he'd happened to hear about a rogue agent that really hadn't been spoken of for quite some time. They'd been searching for him again, from the sounds of it. He hadn't heard their method, but Joan wasn't happy about it. He'd thought it best just to stay out of it if possible, but now he wasn't sure if he'd get that luxury. "Ben what, Annie?"

"Mercer. I think she must have him mixed up or something."

"Impossible," Tash answered. "Every train I exited, so did he. I even flew part of the way, as did he. He was _following_ me."

"Wait, back up," Auggie said quickly. "Ben Mercer is your guy that up and left you in Sri Lanka?"

Annie nodded, feeling a horrible cold settle into her stomach. "Auggie, why do you sound like you know him?"

"Because I do," he answered, feeling all the stress return tenfold. This was not good. Not good at all. "He was…" He half nodded towards Natasha, the expression reminiscent of what might have been a glance at her. "I can't go into it here."

"So what now, Auggie?" Tash asked.

"Now, I've got to make a phone call. We have to bring Joan in on this. Annie, can I catch a ride with you to Langley?"

"Yeah," the blonde managed.

"Okay, call your sister. This is going to be a late night.

* * *

Auggie had not expected Joan to demand Natasha's presence as well, so he was not ready for the uncomfortably silent car trip that he had planned to use to catch Annie up on who Ben Mercer was. Once they reached Langley Joan would be in charge of what she did or did not know, and at least now he could claim ignorance on if she were supposed to know or not. He'd wager they'd kept her out of the loop for a reason.

By the time that they pulled through the gates, Tash was fitted with a visitor's badge, and Joan met them at the edge of the DPD, it was nearly midnight.

"Did you know?" Annie questioned without warning. Her eyes locked with Joan's and her boss met her gaze easily.

"About Ben Mercer, you mean?"

"Yes."

"We've known."

"Then why-"

"I told you not to expect clarity in this place, Annie. I thought you'd know that by now. This way, Miss Petrovna." She turned to Annie and Auggie. "We'll be right back out."

Auggie began to protest, but stopped himself. He'd pushed his limits quite a bit in the last couple of weeks and he knew that he'd be pushing them even more with what was to come. He heard Annie lean hard against the wall and a sigh escape her lips. "While they're busy I can fill you in on what I know," he said quietly, pulling his laser cane from his pocket to guide him to his office.

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A/N: I feel like this was a point a to point b sort of chapter. I hate those. Please R&R though.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: It's so bloody hot. Just a note. Or complaint. Or something. Lol. Thanks so much for all the lovely reviews, encouragements, and cookies! The plot bunnies thank you and I thank you that they're not nomming on my ankles any more =D Oh, also, no one's commented, so I don't know if anyone's caught it or if I'm just a total and complete nerd, but did anyone notice anything special about the song that I got the couple of lyrics from in chapter one, that I named this story after? Kudos to anyone that figures it out!

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Chapter Three.

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Annie followed quickly and the doors slid shut behind them, locking out all noise. He sat firmly in his chair and swiveled around to where he heard her heels stop moving. "Ben Mercer was an operative with the Agency for years. He was good, but around the time that I went off to Iraq he went rogue. I don't know all the details, and it's probably one of the reasons I've been left out of the loop in it, but…" He listened, carefully judging Annie's reaction. "I swear I didn't know that he and your Sri Lanka guy were one in the same."

"And now he's after Tash. Why?"

"I don't know. From what I've heard, he hasn't given up his old life, just ties to the CIA."

"So you're saying he's still running ops, just without any rules to them?"

"Exactly." Auggie reached out and felt Annie place a shaky hand in his. "Annie, I promise you, I'll be right with you through all of this. You know that."

She clutched his hand as if it might be a lifeline. "I know, Auggie."

The tapping sound at the glass door made both agents jump slightly and Annie turned to see Joan just as she opened the door. Natasha stood behind her, looking very uncomfortable in the CIA's headquarters. The blond director stepped forward, her usual pristine self looking very weary with all that had just transpired. "I'm working on finding a safe house for Miss Petrovna until this is sorted out," she said.

"Do I get to know where?" he asked, standing.

"That depends. You're about to have to make a choice." Joan watched him carefully, gauging his reaction to her words. "Natasha and Annie will go two separate ways. We don't know for sure why Mercer is after Natasha, but from what she says there can't be any question about it. There's a possibility that he will come after Annie as well."

"Come after?" Annie echoed, crossing her arms.

"From what we've been able to tell, he's seen himself as some sort of vigilante for the past year. He picks up intel and then beats us to it." She frowned and mimicked Annie's frustrated posture. "But if he sees you in the middle of this, he may deviate."

"So I'm the bait?"

"I don't like it," Joan murmured, her expression proving her words, "but I'm getting orders from higher up."

"Read that: Arthur Campbell," Auggie muttered. "So what's the decision that I'm making?"

"Your decision is which way will you go. I will not have you divided on this, so I won't assign you one direction or the other. It'll be up to you. You can either accompany Natasha to the safe house of our choosing. You will be along for the ride without any say or even much knowledge of what is happening on Annie's side, or you can choose to run tech ops for Annie's mission, as you usually would. Do know that we will take every precaution to keep Natasha safe either way."

Auggie felt three sets of pretty, feminine eyes set on him and he felt his breath catch. Choose between Tash and Annie? Talk about a nightmare. He groaned inwardly and sat heavily back into his chair. There was a chance that Mercer would never take note of Annie's presence if he were fixated enough on Tash's case. If that were the case, there was a chance that no security could be high enough. Ben Mercer was a trained agent and damn good at his job. Auggie had always held a high respect for his skills and had even run an op or two with him back in the day. He was an impressive individual to work with. If he _was_ fixated on Tash then she was in real danger.

On the other hand he didn't trust anyone but himself to handle Annie's missions. It bordered obsessive and he'd been known to become very short with people when they tried to take him off of them. They didn't really know what had caused Mercer to go off-grid, or if he were even still in his right mind. For what they knew, he could have snapped under the pressure and once he found out that Annie was now working for the agency that he hated so much he could turn all of his hatred towards her. There was no telling. He might be stuck behind a desk with it, but at least he would have Annie's voice in his ear and she would have him to guide her through. That, and hadn't he just promised that he would stay by her side through all of this? He loved Natasha, but there was something about Annie that grabbed at him. Pulled him in. He was hesitant to call it love only because it seemed that every woman that he truly fell for ended up hurt in some way or the other.

"Let me make this easy for you, Auggie," Natasha broke the silence. "Do you trust your boss?"

"Yes." No pause. Auggie wasn't sure what that said about his and Joan's relationship.

"Alright," the Russian hacker said gently and Auggie heard her move forward. She placed a hand on either of his shoulders, leaned forward, and kissed his forehead. "Because you trust her, I will trust her. I will see you when this is over and done with."

Auggie sat in partial shock as Natasha moved out of the office. Annie followed, calling her name. The Russian turned, tears standing in her eyes and the blonde stopped in her tracks.

"Why?" Annie managed.

"Why?" Tash laughed mirthlessly. "Because I have known Auggie long enough - well enough – to know when he cares very deeply for someone. I love him, but we've said our goodbyes and I hope he is happy. All I can do is remind you of my warning. He does make a lousy boyfriend."

Joan moved past Annie and motioned for Tash to follow her. She turned back to Annie. "Auggie has the information that you will need. I'll see you two bright and early."

Annie nodded and watched her boss walk away with Auggie's ex, Natasha's words echoing in her head. She was startled a little by the green light in the darkened office space. She turned to see Auggie lingering back behind her, his expression unreadable as he stared into his every-present nothingness.

Finally he inhaled and released it as a sigh. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted and tomorrow's going to be hell. Could I catch a lift home from you?"

"Yeah," Annie managed and moved to loop her arm through his. His steps were slow and she glanced worriedly at him several times on their way out towards her car. "Auggie, if you'd rather-"

"No," he cut her off as he slipped into her passenger seat. He heard her open her door and slide in as well. "I… think I feel worse that I'd made the decision before she said anything."

"What was that?" Annie asked hesitantly as she started the car up and started out of Langley and towards Auggie's loft.

He took a deep breath and laid his head back against the seat. "That I would have been distracted if I'd gone with her. I'd be worried about you."

Annie forced a laugh. "C'mon, Auggie, I'm a big girl."

"I know," he smiled, "but that doesn't stop me from worrying. It sucks, you know, being stuck behind a desk and not being able to be right there."

Annie turned towards him to answer playfully, but everything happened so quickly that she never was able to speak. Her sharp intake of breath had Auggie asking "what?" at nearly the same time that the vehicle crashed into his side of the car, sending them flying out of control.

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A/N: Woot! The action begins! Hope this is meeting expectations. As much as I love the reviews, it always makes me a little nervous that I won't meet ya'll's expectations. Especially since I've already written one multi-chapter fic for this genre and you seemed to like it... makes me feel like I've got to do even better on this one. Reviews and cookies to keep the plot bunnies from eating me are much appreciated! =D


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So, was last night's show a letdown for anyone else? Maybe it's just because Auggie wasn't in it nearly enough or I just need to rewatch it, but I was rather disappointed after seeing it. That, and I realized that the guy that plays Ben also played Web in Band of Brothers. Ugh. I loved Web, and I hate Ben. This is so not cool.

Anyway, this is officially deviating from cannon now. I figured it would, but now that I've seen the episode I can say that for sure. I may still use various scenes that didn't have anything to do with Ben directly (like the fact that Jai has met Annie's family via a bbq, because I'm plotting and planning for that one), but mostly, it's going to be off from it.

Thanks for reviews and cookies! Always appreciated!

I'm still looking for someone that can name where the song lyrics on the first chapter (that the fic is named after) came from! =D

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Chapter Four.

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Annie felt herself coming to very slowly. She really needed to find a way to keep from getting into these rolling-car sort of wrecks. Especially when it was her car that was taking the damage. Well, at least when they'd flipped they'd landed right-side up.

She groaned as she glanced over to Auggie. He was leaned up against the smashed door, eyes closed and blood trickling down to the collar of his shirt. Panic began to well up in her as she reached over to shake him. Whoever had hit them had hit his side, leaving everything caved in and the glass shattered and crumbling. He was far to still.

"Auggie, please," she managed, glancing around. No one had approached them, which was always a good start, but he still wasn't moving.

He finally stirred, his eyes fluttering open and blinking as if he were trying to clear them. "Annie?" he coughed out, his voice harsh sounding to his and her ears.

"Right here," she answered, tugging her seatbelt. "Can you move?"

"I think so. Anyone coming?"

Annie looked around again and was about to say "no" when her eyes came to land on a gun pointed at her through the broken window on her side.

"Where is Natasha Petrovna?"

The man's voice made her breath catch. "Ben?"

Their attacker leaned down so that his face was visible, his blue eyes wide with recognition. "Annie." He glanced past her, his eyes resting very briefly on Auggie who was trying to move out of his seatbelt with a pained expression across his face. Blue eyes shifted back. "What are you doing here? Why would they put you on this op?"

"Better question is: what are _you_ doing here?" Auggie hissed from the passenger seat.

"Been a while, Anderson."

"Quite a while. What the hell are you doing?"

"Your girlfriend. Where is she?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Auggie growled, finally maneuvering his way out of the seatbelt. He let out a low sound of pain as he grabbed at his right shoulder that had been shoved up against the wreckage.

"Funny, I'd heard that you two took a trip up to Canada recently."

The sound of police sirens echoed distantly and Ben looked up. After a beat he crouched back down with a frustrated look played out on his face. "Where is she, Auggie?"

"She and I cut ties."

"Dammit," Mercer growled out and turned his attention to Annie. After half a second of thought he put his hand out to her. "Come with me?"

"What?" she breathed, staring in shock. "I can't-"

"Yes you can," he urged grabbing her hand and pulling her up and out of the totaled vehicle. "Please."

"Leave her alone," Auggie growled and moved towards them. He crumbled against the middle console with a cry of pain on his lips. He couldn't move and his eyes were shut tightly against the pain that rivaled the last moments he had had before he'd passed out following the explosion in Iraq. "Annie…"

"Ben, please," he heard her voice plead. She was moving further and further away, but Auggie couldn't be sure if it were because he was losing consciousness or she was physically moving.

He called her name out again, but heard no response. The sirens were coming closer and the sound of a car speeding away was the last thing he was able to hold on to.

* * *

To come around to consciousness for the second time within twenty-four hours made Annie Walker's head hurt. She could faintly taste what she thought might be some sort of chloroform on her lips and smell it in her nose. Slowly, as she sat up and looked around, she managed to piece together that what happened. She had gone out for drinks, gone to Auggie's, spoken to him about their strange and currently strained friendship, and kissed him. Then what? Tash had come and things had gone south. Ben… Ben was involved. Blue eyes flashed in her memory, but then, in a rush, she remembered the car crash, Auggie's unresponsive body leaned limply against the wrecked door, and the blood that stained her car.

"Annie?"

Annie looked up with wide eyes. Ben stood over her and knelt so that he was directly in front. She moved again, realizing that she was not tied. His hand was cupping her face before she even saw the movement and something in the back of her mind noted that the effects of the drugs had not entirely worn off.

"I'm sorry, Annie," Ben whispered, thumb caressing her cheekbone as he spoke in low, easy tones. "I can't believe they'd do this to you."

"_They_?" Annie murmured, trying to pull away. Auggie was hurt, left alone and she wasn't sure if help had gone to him or not. She had to force her mind to focus. She had to fight against the fog that tugged at her brain. "Ben, you have to let me go."

"I'm not holding you here, Annie."

"You _drugged_ me," she growled, rolling to her knees to try a hand at standing. "I'd call that holding me."

"I'm not holding you," Mercer repeated, settling back with a sigh. He watched as she attempted to stand, lost balance, and sat back down heavily. "Annie, what do you know about the man in your car?"

Light brown eyes shifted to meet his clear blue ones. "What about Auggie?" she asked defensively.

"What do you actually know about him?"

"He's… Auggie's my best friend. I know everything I need to know about him." Her voice was steady after the beginning and her eyes were locked with his. She knew Auggie, probably better than Ben did at that time. She knew that, even if he hid things from her, he was probably the most honest person in the DPD. At least to her. She cared about him, and that was all that really mattered.

Ben snorted. "You don't know him. He'll rip you to shreds, Annie. Use you until you're not worth anything to him and then throw you away. They all will, but Auggie was always particularly good at working women for whatever information he needed."

Annie pushed thoughts of Natasha and Liza Hearn out of her mind and instead focused on her own anger. "Only took you three weeks to throw me away."

"Annie-"

"No!" She stood, albeit unsteadily, and glared down at him. "No. I'm walking out of here, Ben. I'm going to Langley and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Mercer stood, watching her sway. His eyes remained focused on her as she defiantly walked out the door.

Annie thought that he was being awful easy going about the fact that she was walking out on him, making no qualms about the fact that she was taking a side in all of this. She thought that, until she stepped out of the door and realized that her swaying was not left over from her drug-induced sleep, but from the fact that the floor was moving beneath her. Brown eyes widened in horror when they looked out to the vast, open ocean. Only blue met her and she felt a shiver of dread pass down her spine.

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A/N: Cliffhangers. They are my friend. As are cookies to the plot bunnies. Reviews, though, those are my addiction =D


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Work was very slow and I didn't have any particular homework to speak of, so I wrote. I really should have used the time to work on my novel, but this chapter was buzzing in my head, so here it is for your reading pleasure! Oh, and also, Gabrielle Day and I are supposed to start a multi-chapter fic for CA tonight. Not that I'm not pulling myself in every direction I can, but keep your eyes peeled for that =D

* * *

Chapter Five.

* * *

There was a distinct smell that went with the medical department at CIA headquarters. It was used often, as they preferred to bring their agents in-house before sending them to a potentially compromising hospital. Auggie had done most of his rehab after Iraq in these same med facilities and he knew them well. The sounds of machines beeping were not a comfort.

"Welcome back," a familiar voice reached his ears.

Auggie blinked several times and shifted. Everything was fuzzy and he wondered briefly just what he'd done to land himself there. He tried to move his right hand to his face but found it immobile, so he settled for his left and rubbed hard at his eyes as if it would help clear the cobwebs.

"Never could break you of some of those habits, could we?" the voice asked, a sigh hanging in the air.

Auggie felt a hint of a smirk tug at his lips. "Hey Doc," he managed, his voice sounding raw to his ears. He gave a half cough against the dryness and swallowed hard. After a moment he felt a steady hand against his left shoulder and a cup of what he hoped was water was placed into his good hand with the warning that a straw waited for him. After several long gulps he felt his throat was ready for speech and he handed the water back off. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"Bits and pieces, but…" Auggie reached his hand towards his face again and found gauze around his head.

"Least of your worries, believe me," the doctor answered with a short laugh. "Heaven knows you have a thick skull. Your shoulder and ribs took more of a beating than your head did. Just a mild concussion there."

"What's going on, Doc? Last I knew you were an eye specialist, unless you've been expanding your field."

"I thought you might want a friendly voice when you woke."

"We're friends?"

Dr. Richard Easom gave a short chuckle and patted his former patient good naturedly on the arm. "Auggie, I was always rather fond of you. Even if you didn't listen to a damn thing I said, there was never a dull moment when you were in my care."

Auggie grinned at this. "Miss me that much, huh?"

"Even so, I like a little peace and quiet now and then," the doctor murmured and Auggie heard him pull a chair up to the bedside. "Joan asked me to call her when you woke."

"Can you fill me in on what's going on?"

"I don't know the details," Easom admitted softly. "Some sort of car wreck. Dr. Lager is your doctor this go around."

"Car wreck?" Auggie repeated and memories flooded in. Annie. "Where's Annie?"

"Annie?" the doctor echoed. "I couldn't say. I'll call Joan. She'll know more of what you're talking about."

The chair shifted again and Auggie reached out and grabbed at Easom. He caught hold of the doctor's coat and clutched onto it. "If she's caught up in something, ask her about Annie, will you? Please?"

"Of course," the specialist murmured, slightly unnerved by the young man's reaction.

Auggie was left with only the sound of the machines steadily beeping to keep him company after Doc Easom's footsteps faded away. He slowed his breathing and waited in tense silence until a new, unfamiliar, tapping came closer and finally entered his room.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson," an overly cheerful voice greeted him and Auggie felt like groaning. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck," Auggie answered without missing a beat. "Do you know if Joan Campbell is on her way up here?"

"Couldn't say," he answered easily and Auggie felt the man's fingers working at his injured shoulder. He winced at the pressure, but the doctor gave no real notice of the reaction. "Dr. Easom says that you were a patient of his a couple of years ago."

"About a year and a half ago," Auggie answered through clenched teeth.

"He's one of the best. Everything turned out alright then?"

"With the exception of me losing my eyesight, yeah. Sure." The poking and prodding stopped suddenly and Auggie heard the chubby doctor – he couldn't swear by it, but he just couldn't picture the man as thin – moved and the sound of paperwork being flipped met Auggie's ears.

The tech expert was about to voice his concerns over a doctor who hadn't even read his chart when two familiar sets of footsteps reached his ears and he heard Doc Easom's voice. "Charles, do you mind giving Mr. Anderson and Mrs. Campbell the room for just a moment? There's some things they need to discuss."

"Of course."

"Hey Doc Easom," Auggie called and heard a lighter set of steps stop.

Easom returned to his former patient's side and leaned close to his ear so that Auggie was the only one that could hear him. Though no one else could hear what he said, they heard Auggie's short chuckle and nothing more was said on the subject.

Joan took the seat that Easom had occupied earlier. "How are you feeling?"

"Like hell. What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Mercer t-boned us. Did he take Annie?"

"Took her. She went with him. We don't know yet."

"She didn't go willingly," Auggie promised his boss and shifted so that his head was tilted towards her. His mind's eye pictured Annie being pulled away by Mercer and he shuddered.

Joan's necklace jingled, indicating that she had nodded. "We don't have a lock on them yet. Natasha is, though, safely hidden away."

"One bit of good news today," Auggie grumbled. "You know how soon I can leave?"

Joan's breath caught. "You're not going anywhere, Auggie. Your shoulder was pulled out of socket, the collarbone broken, and you have three cracked ribs. One that if it broke the rest of the way would puncture your lung. That's not even counting the various cuts and scrapes. A couple required stitches."

"I can't leave Annie alone out there."

"Did you not hear me, Auggie?" his boss growled. "You're not going anywhere until you have medical clearance, and don't even think about running Lager around to get out of here early. That's why I contacted Easom. He knows how to deal with you."

Auggie snorted. "You gave me an option on who I could protect, Joan. Sitting around and twiddling my thumbs in a hospital bed was _not_ on the list of options."

"Neither was a car wreck!" she huffed in response. "Just… stay put, Auggie. Don't harass the doctors. Don't leave. I don't want to put a guard at the door, but if it needs to happen…"

"Who are you putting on Annie's case then? Who's going to find her?"

"Jai will be in the field and Barber will run tech."

"_Barber_?" Auggie demanded, sitting up straighter in the bed. His whole right side screamed in protest, but he bit back the response. "C'mon, Joan, he's incompetent."

"He held the fort down pretty well when you were on your joyride to Canada."

"That's not what I heard."

"Stu's not ready to head up a project," Joan argued, a frown etched into her face.

"So let me run tech. Seriously, I'll be sitting in bed or sitting at my computer. It's all sitting."

"No, you'll be sleeping in this bed," Joan counted icily. "I wasn't kidding about the security, Auggie. Don't push me on this. You won't leave this room until Dr. Lager clears you. That's final."

Auggie let out a frustrated sound as she left the room and slammed his good hand hard against the bed. Frustration was slowly replaced with determination as he laid his head back against the pillow and started devising a plan to work Lager to his advantage. He had told Annie he'd be with her every step of the way, and that was not a promise that he was willing to break.

* * *

Annie could not tear her eyes away from the waves as they crashed into the boat. There seemed to only be one other soul on board: a captain who did not speak English. She'd tried several other languages to coax him into communicating their destination or their current location, but he was tight lipped. Finally, after half an hour of trying, she moved to the bow of the boat where she leaned heavily against the railing. Ben had left her alone and she found herself staring off at dusk's beautiful sky.

"Will you talk to me now?"

She didn't bother to respond, but kept her eyes trained ahead. She was angry and scared. Not for herself, but for Auggie. She thought she remembered sirens, but that didn't mean they'd gotten to him in time. There'd been a lot of blood in the car, and it all seemed to be from his side. She wasn't sure just how bad he was hurt, but he'd been on the verge of passing out when Ben had pulled her from the wreckage.

"It's beautiful, hmm?" Ben asked, leaning on the railing next to her. "You remember those evenings in Sri Lanka? The sunsets couldn't be matched." He glanced at her and she made some noncommittal noise that caused him to return his gaze to the sky. "I know you're angry with me."

"Oh really?"

"Please don't be like that, Annie. I hadn't left yet when I met you. I was still involved with the Agency, and by the time I had left and felt like I was cleared enough to find you again… You were on the Farm. Training for the one organization I hate most."

"Really? The CIA tops terrorists in your book?"

"You know what I mean," he growled, eyebrows knitting together.

She huffed and propped her chin on her fists. "You're really different than I thought."

"People usually are. Like Auggie."

She whirled on him, eyes flashing dangerous. "Seriously, what the hell is your problem?" she demanded. "You come back, out of the blue, and are suddenly so involved in everything around me. I know that was you in the subway that day. I _know_." She closed her eyes, her thoughts running a mile a minute. "What's your problem with Auggie, anyway? You come in, total my car, and leave him to die."

"He'll be fine," Ben grumbled. "He's indestructible."

"He'd like to think so," she said darkly, tears building in her eyes. "He's not, though. You could have killed him and I won't even know until it's too late."

Ben massaged the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Listen, Annie," he breathed at last. "Don't get too attached to Auggie. He's dangerous." He paused, looking off to the darkening horizon. "Didn't think he'd hold a grudge quite this long, though. Wouldn't even look me in the eye."

Annie snorted. "Some great intel gatherer you are." At his questioning look she gave him a mirthless chuckle. "He _can't_ look you in the eye, Ben. Auggie was blinded in Iraq."

An uneasy silence settled between them and Ben never answered. He just kept his eyes focused on the surrounding darkness.

* * *

A/N: So, I really like Dr. Easom. If any of ya'll are A-Team fans, I wrote him a lot like I write Dr. Richter's character. Kind of long-suffering and such. I told one of my friends that I'd been wanting to bring a character in like him, that had been with Auggie through all of his rehab and such, and I'd think that they would have a strange sort of bond through it. I can also imagine Auggie to be a perfectly horrible patient. So there you go =D

Reviews... they are my drug. Feed the addiction.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm taking a creative writing course this semester and absoutley loving it. If anyone would care to go take a look at the tiny piece that I churned out for class today, it's on my Deviant Art page (follow the homepage link on my profile). I really had a lot of fun with it =D

* * *

Chapter Six.

* * *

It had taken a while, but the man that was captaining what seemed to be a cargo ship finally began speaking to Annie. He was originally from Rwanda, but had fled some years prior. He made a good living with his fair-sized cargo ship and would go no further than to say that he owed Ben Mercer his life. He spoke highly of the former agent in beautifully accented French and told Annie not to worry. Ben cared deeply for her and would not put her in harm's way.

"He hasn't mentioned where we're going," Annie said as she glanced out the front windows.

The captain gave her a knowing smile and turned his attention back to the open sea. He said nothing more after that.

With a frustrated sigh Annie returned to her former position at the boat's furthest corner. She'd only slept a few hours the night before and had risen in time to watch the sun rise. They were heading north, which probably meant Canada. Ben had tossed her phone and anything else that they could use to trace her long before she'd woken from her chloroform-induced sleep the day before, but she thought she might have some sense of direction if they touched land. He couldn't keep her at sea for the rest of her life.

"Good morning."

Annie shot a glare over her shoulder. Speak of the devil and he will arrive. "You know my sister's probably freaking out by now. Called the cops, filed a missing persons, the whole shebang."

"Doubtful."

"How do you figure?"

A smile that did not lend to being happy or sad tugged at Mercer's lips. "Because she would have called your work first? To see if she'd missed you."

"Maybe."

"And someone within the CIA would have picked up and given her a story that she could swallow. All to save their appearance. Annie, do you really think Joan's going to send operatives out just to find you?"

_She did for Auggie._ She wanted to say it, but kept her mouth closed. Even if that were true, it didn't necessarily mean that Joan would send someone to look for her. She was new. She was nobody, no matter how much Auggie claimed Joan liked her.

"At worst, she thinks you ran off with me and will track you down to charge you with treason. At best, she'll let you be."

"Those aren't the only options, you know. I didn't come willingly."

"You didn't try to get away, either."

Annie's blood boiled. "You drugged me!"

"How does she know that?"

"Auggie would have told her."

Mercer snorted. "You said he's blind. How would he know, and to top that, he looked like he got a decent knock on the head. His story won't hold up and Joan always suspects the worst of people."

Annie shot him a dirty look before turning away, huffing loudly. It was everything she could do to resist the urge to throw him overboard. How could she have missed how arrogant he was? She risked a glance out of her peripheral and she felt a small tug on her heart. Ben looked rather dejected as he leaned against the railing and she sighed. "Fine," she said after a moment. "What happened?"

He blinked several times, throwing her a questioning glance. "When?"

"With the CIA? Something's driven you to this. Let's here it."

* * *

Jai Willcox was not easily shocked. After thirty-some-odd years of dealing with his father, he was sure that he had seen everything, but he wasn't sure that even his father could have pulled off what August Anderson had.

The man didn't look like he should have been out of bed, much less walking into the DPD. Jai had heard that Joan had forbidden the tech agent from leaving the medical wing until he was properly authorized by the staff there to do so, but there he was: following his usual green laser in a slower-than-normal manner with a steeled expression and a piece of paper clutched in his hand.

Joan looked irate. Jai approached just close enough to hear her furious voice as her heels clicked angrily on the marble floor. This was not going to be pretty and the entire bullpen had grown very quiet in anticipation of the out-in-the-open clash of wills that was about to happen.

"What the hell are you doing in here, Anderson?" she growled out lowly, stopping right in front of him.

"I have a note," Auggie said quickly, handing her the piece of paper. "I have it on good authority that it's my medical release, but they don't have a Braille printer in the med wing so I have to take it on their word." He flashed her his usual charming grin.

Joan snatched the paper away from him and ripped it open, icy eyes scanning the words. All at once she shot a look out towards the bullpen and the sound of fingers hitting keyboards and hard work filled the silence. She turned her attention back to her lead tech operative. "What sort of incompetent doctor would have released you? What the hell did you threaten them with, Auggie?"

Auggie raised his good hand in mock surrender. "I made no threats."

His boss let out a low sigh that sounded more like a hiss. "Jai. My office. Now." She grabbed Auggie's arm and half dragged him along without warning.

The two men stood in front of Joan's desk as she took a seat behind it, lacing her fingers together and glaring threateningly. Auggie might not have been able to see it, but she knew him well enough to know that he could all but feel her eyes trained on him. She did not speak as she continued to glare, every once and a while shifting a hostile glance in Jai's direction.

Jai stood tall and still, wondering what he'd done to bring him into Joan's office in this mood. He shifted a quick peek towards Auggie at his side. He was standing just as still and nearly just as straight, with his right arm in a sling and a bandage covering one of the deeper cuts on his face being the only real outward signs of his injuries. Jai was pretty sure, from what he'd heard, those weren't the only injuries that the tech expert had received.

"Fine," Joan said at last, clearing her throat. "Can you still work with you arm in a sling?"

"My left hand's find," Auggie answered easily.

The blonde shook her head and hid the small smile that perked her lips. That was one of the things that she respected about the young man before her: he never gave up. Put a problem in front of Auggie Anderson and it would be solved. She stood, leaning slightly on her desk. "Barber's been at it all night and hasn't found anything on Annie's whereabouts."

"Of course he hasn't."

"Find her, Auggie."

He nodded, his face serious. "Yes ma'am."

Joan turned to Jai. "Get ready to leave as soon as he finds something."

"Of course."

"Get moving," she all but growled at them and the two men exited her office with a speed she hadn't expected from them. She watched them go, Auggie shooing Barber from his seat and she was sure that he was letting the junior tech agent know exactly how he felt about his area being used and abused by the somewhat sloppier tech operative.

Joan sank down into her chair and buried her hands in her face. For a moment she sat there and mulled over their situation. Auggie would, if he had anything to say about it, find Annie. He was certain that Annie had not gone with Mercer willingly, but she was well trained and very resourceful. With the twenty-four hour mark quickly approaching she still had found no way to contact them. Still, Auggie was certain and Joan trusted his judgment. Most of the time. Best case scenario: he would find Annie, Jai would go get her, they would take Mercer into custody. Joan had been in the business far too long to allow idealistic fantasies to take hold of her thoughts. If Auggie found her, he'd stop at nothing to go with Jai to fetch her. He'd already, somehow, managed to con his way out of the med center that she thought she had Auggie-proofed with the arrival of Dr. Easom. All hell could break loose if Mercer and Auggie met up again. Heaven knows it hadn't ended well before.

She sighed and stood, blue eyes wandering out her window. They would cross that bridge when it came.

* * *

A/N: Remember, that 'don't feed the author' sign is put there by the bad guys. You should always feed the author.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this. Things have been crazy. We had our first football game of the season on Saturday and my folks came down for it. I'm going to try to make them with it being my last semester and all. We won, so yay! Go bears! lol. Also, my apologies if I've gotten distance/hours/time to get to places off. I'm not overly familiar with the East Coast and the length of time it would take to get from point A to point B. =(

* * *

Chapter Seven.

* * *

The sun beat down on them as Ben Mercer leaned back, cradling a glass of scotch in his hands. His eyes were trained on something unseen. He's spent the last couple of hours telling his life story to a woman that, by all accounts, should have known it. He was the eldest of two children, though his parents and younger sister had died in a car accident while he was away at college. His education and language skills had targeted him for the Agency and they'd eventually set him up with a cover as an ESL teacher abroad. He'd enjoyed it for several years as teaching had, originally, been his end goal. He had felt he was doing something for his country.

It was his mission in Sri Lanka that had set him to thinking. The man that they had been after was a security threat of some kind, and Ben was sure that he would be put away for life. This had been his biggest mission to date and the most dangerous, so when he'd received orders that the man was to be taken alive at all costs, not for imprisonment but to be turned into an asset, he'd had a few words with the operative at the other end of the line. Even so, orders were still orders and he fulfilled them. He had left to protect Annie. If they'd known about her they could have used her.

Either side.

"It went downhill from there," Mercer murmured and tipped back the last of his drink. "I didn't last much more than a month or so past it. I couldn't make myself believe that it was okay to simply turn these people loose. You've seen it already, I know."

Annie frowned. "So you went rogue and decided to play judge, jury, and executioner."

Her statement was met with a shrug. "If you see it that way."

Annie directed her light brown eyes towards the ocean again. She was sure that the spot that she'd occasionally been glancing at had expanded into a stretch. Land. She turned back to Ben with a sigh. "You still haven't told me about Auggie."

Mercer's expression darkened considerably. "What about him?"

"Why you hate him so much. I mean, seriously, if you had said anyone else I might have understood. Even Jai, but _Auggie_?"

Her ex snorted. "Anyone can spot Jai from a mile away. It's not his fault. It was bred into him, but August Anderson is a different story all together." He paused thoughtfully. "I spoke to him, briefly, just before he shipped off to Iraq. It was after I met you and I'd come back to the States in one last-ditch effort to get things set right. Found out what had happened to Natasha Petrovna."

"Are you holding that against him?" Annie asked, wrinkling her nose. "You're the one trying to kill her."

"Because the Agency won't do their job. I guess I had more faith in Auggie than I should have."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that neither of us had quite learned our lessons yet. It's a lesson that makes you or breaks you in the CIA: they're in charge. They own every part of you if you want to stay there. I guess I just thought Auggie had more integrity than he showed that day."

If Mercer were going to explain any further his words were paused and diverted as the ship's captain approached and spoke very lowly into his ear. The blue-eyed man nodded and thanked him in French for all of his work and that he was truly in the captain's debt. Finally, Ben turned back to Annie. "Get ready and stay close to me. We're going to shore."

* * *

Upon coming back from Iraq Auggie had many injuries to deal with. Obviously, the loss of his sight had taken up most of his time, but shrapnel certainly hadn't avoided him when the bomb had gone off. His right hand had been injured and still bandaged even by the time that he'd started rehab and learning to use a Braille system with his computer. He was, by nature, right-handed, but he'd learned to become very ambidextrous in those days. The problem was that he'd forgotten just how much time it consumed to use only one hand. He'd been slow to begin with, not having a full grasp of the systems, so his mind had never equated the time consumption to one useless hand.

Auggie let out a frustrated growl at his computer screen as it came up with another dead end. As much as he hated to admit it, Barber had run most of the preliminary traces the night before when he'd been fading in and out of consciousness and trying to devise a way out of the med wing. Annie's cell phone had been dumped into the harbor. That was the tech team's best guess, anyway, as the signal faded out and went dead there. Upon hearing that Auggie had searched the surrounding areas for a car rental, ticket purchases of any kind in cash or Annie's credit card, or anything else that might leap up and out at him.

A knock came at his half opened office door and Auggie looked up. The steady clicking of expensive shoes met his ears, but they were slower and less sure than usual. Jai Wilcox let out a tired sigh. "Just talked to Joan and I thought I'd fill you in."

"Yeah. Sure," Auggie answered as he pulled his Grado RS 2's from his ears and looked in Jai's general direction.

"A team of men and I have been up and down the coast where her trail leads off. We found what seems to be Mercer's car parked behind a convenience store and a couple people think they might have seen a man matching his description half-carrying what they thought was a drunk girlfriend. Looks like he hopped on over to Delaware and might have caught a small cargo ship out."

"So we've lost them to the ocean?" Auggie asked tiredly. He'd lost track of how many hours they'd been working now. Joan hadn't even tried to tell him to go home and rest.

"Maybe. I've alerted some people up and down the coast and we've got eyes and ears at any point they would land."

Auggie's left hand flew across they keyboard as he started imputing the data that they knew. "Any visual on the cargo ship itself?"

Jai gave an unusual snort. "No. This all happened in the middle of the night and very early morning."

"I have cargo ships leaving out towards Canada in those hours this morning."

"Right. I'll let Joan know."

Auggie nodded and listened to him click tiredly off. An other knock came at his door and he perked again. "Yes?"

"I never thought you would have pulled it off. He's slow, but he's not that slow."

The tech agent's tired brain put the voice to a name in a much more sluggish manner than it usually would. "Hey Doc. Thought you were working at the hospital today."

"I was. I just got off my shift and came to check on my favorite patient. Do you know what I found?" Easom asked and Auggie could hear him padding closer and knew that he was shooting him an accusing glare.

"Listen, Doc, I don't have time for games today. Annie's out there and I've got to find her. What if Mercer decides that she's a liability? What if he hurts her?"

"Isn't she a trained agent?"

"She is, but… They have a past. When you have a past with someone you tend to trust who you thought they were. I can't live with myself if something happens to her."

Easom gave a short grunt of understanding. "How are you holding up?"

"I'll last until it's over."

"Then will you come back to the med wing without a fight over it?"

A small smile tugged at Auggie's lips. "Doc, if we find Annie in one piece and okay, I'll do anything you ask me to."

* * *

The sun was setting again as Ben and Annie exited the boat. His arm was tight around her waist and they both had ball caps pulled down to shield their features from any potential onlookers.

"Can I trust you, Annie?" he asked lowly.

She looked up into his clear eyes and felt something tug on her heart. She schooled her best, most trustworthy expression. "Yeah. I guess."

"Stay right here. Don't talk to anyone if you can help it. I'll be right back."

Annie watched him leave, wondering who she would speak to in his absence. The docks were empty with the exception of a few men loading and unloading supplies. She glanced around, hoping to find something of use. The only thing she spotted was a pay phone and she made her way to it after a quick glance towards where Ben had disappeared to. When she saw that he was busy in his work she reached up and slipped a few spare coins into it. As the phone began to ring she only prayed that she would hear a familiar voice on the other end. She hoped beyond hope that Auggie would pick up.

* * *

A/N: So, my boyfriend and I had dinner last night and he wanted to watch the pilot episode that I have on my computer for CA, being that that ep is the only one that he hadn't seen yet. Somewhere in there we were discussing the skankiness of Liza Hearn and he wanted to know why I didn't put the same term on Auggie for sleeping with her for information. After some chatter about it he got a really funny look and says 'Well, that gives a whole new meaning for "doing it for your country."' O.o I died laughing and thought I would share.

Also, reviews are addictive. Feed the addiction.


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